Did a short hike today. Well, that's not really accurate as I covered 13 miles or so. It was mostly easy walking and I was done by 3pm so it felt short. I did manage to get up two peaks so I still accomplished something.
I had planned to meet Mike and do something more ambitious but the prior Tuesday I tweaked some muscles in my back. Any movement resulted in blinding pain and I was forced to spend 24 hours flat on my living room floor(p.s. the ceiling needs painting). Strangely I was feeling much better the next day and by Saturday I 'felt' almost 100%. That said, I didn't want to attempt a huge trek deep into the bush only to reinjure my back. As a result, I opted out of Mike's plans and went for a shorter hike on my own. Phelps and Tabletop fit the bill. The route meant I was never too far from my car so, if I had a problem, I could always cut it short without spoiling someone elses day. Also the climbs aren't too fierce so I wouldn't be requiring a major effort. A further benefit was that the van Hovenberg trail is busy (really busy) so, should I require emergency assistance(hopefully not!), I'm not without the means of finding some help. The more remote trails Mike had planned on could mean a long, long... long wait before someone should happen along.
With the plan set I headed to South Meadow and walked up the truck trail to Marcy dam. This also gave me a nice stroll to warm up the back muscles before calling for more rigourous climbing. All went well. A nice morning and I was feeling good. Got to Marcy dam at 8:30 and the water was perfectly still. Made for a nice shot of the Avalanche pass in the background. From there it was off to Phelps and I was still ahead of the crowds on the van Hovenberg!
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Algonquin
The climb up Phelps was steady but not too technically difficult. It opens up to some nice ledges on the summit which provide these great vistas. I was up by 9:30 am so things were ticking along well. I had a snack and a little drink and then headed down and off towards Tabletop. Started to run into the crowds as I headed down and the Van Hovenburg trail was a bit of a zoo. Lots of folks headed to Marcy today.
The climb up Tabletop was steep but short (and really quiet). Very eroded and a lot of roots exposed. Not sure that bodes well for the trail. I would guess that the trees along the trail - roots washed from the soil will come down easily in winter storms leaving more and more blowdown to be cleared.... causing more erosion, causing more blowdown.... a bit of a vicious cycle.
The Tabletop summit was unremarkable. Mostly in the trees although there was a little view over to the Johns Brook valley beyond the top. I spent a few minutes here and then headed off to Indian Falls for lunch.
The climb up Tabletop was steep but short (and really quiet). Very eroded and a lot of roots exposed. Not sure that bodes well for the trail. I would guess that the trees along the trail - roots washed from the soil will come down easily in winter storms leaving more and more blowdown to be cleared.... causing more erosion, causing more blowdown.... a bit of a vicious cycle.
The Tabletop summit was unremarkable. Mostly in the trees although there was a little view over to the Johns Brook valley beyond the top. I spent a few minutes here and then headed off to Indian Falls for lunch.
indian falls
I stopped at Indian Falls to have lunch. I had it mostly to myself which is a rare treat. A few people stopped by but they didn't stay long. I pumped a couple of bottles of water and enjoyed the view for 45 minutes or so. A great spot. Many years ago Mark and I camped here and cooked dinner on the rocks above the Falls. Unfortunately they don't allow camping at this spot any more. Too heavy an impact on this fragile environment I suppose. You can still see the camp sites clearly in the woods along the trail. At one point - long before my time - there were also leantos here. I guess Mother nature will close up those clearings over time and return them to the dense forest that surrounds this area.
After lunch I headed down to the Avalanche camps, back to the Dam and out to the car. I debated heading up Colden as it was only 1pm and the mountain is really close from here but with my back issues I decided not to press my luck. Another excuse to come back to this gorgeous area...
After lunch I headed down to the Avalanche camps, back to the Dam and out to the car. I debated heading up Colden as it was only 1pm and the mountain is really close from here but with my back issues I decided not to press my luck. Another excuse to come back to this gorgeous area...
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Summit of Saddleback
Mike sent a few photos from the trip. Since he doesn't blog I figured - with due credit - that I would post them here. This is the summit of Saddleback with me standing on a nearby boulder. Down below is the Upper Ausable lake and the Colvin-Blake range behind. Nice shot showing how lucky we were with the weather. A beautiful day indeed.
climbing basin
This shot is one of mine. Mike is climbing up the trail to Basin with handy roots for hand holds. The trail was pretty steep in spots but unlike Saddleback you were almost always in the trees so you never felt too exposed. Haystack in the background looked really nice. We could see people hiking along the ridge. I must say - from here - it looked really easy to see them bounding along the ridge but of course I would find out it was not so speedy on Sunday when I made my way up Haystack.
Climbing Saddleback
This is a great shot of the climb up Saddleback. While it looks steep (and it is) there are easy crags to negotiate up to the safety of the next ledge. Mike (below) is standing on safe flat ground and I (above) am also on a nice ledge. The crack to the right has some nicely positioned rocks which allow for easy progress up from one ledge to another. The painted arrows help guide you so you don't end up in a "dead end" position where there are no easy ways up forcing you to down climb to refind the path. Great fun!
Haystack summit
Sunday came around and decisions were to be made. The guys had been telling me - for months it seems - all about their great hike last year to Haystack. Of course on Sunday they wanted to go up Mt. Marcy (a peak I’d been to)..... but I wanted to do Haystack !!! Actually it worked out really well. We were able to follow the same trail approaching these two mountians for most of the day. In the col between the two peaks I went left (to Haystack) and they went right (to Marcy). After my climb I went back down the col and then almost to the top of Marcy where I met the guys coming down and we then hiked back to the lodge. In the end we only hiked seperately for maybe 2 hours and we all got to do the peak we wanted so it worked out great.
Haystack has to be the one of the best hikes I've done in a long time. It is centrally located amongst a large group of the high peaks and the last 3/4 of a mile are above treeline with nice rock scrambles to the summit. I arrived on the summit completely alone. I had my lunch, took photos, dried my socks out and then finally packed up and headed down. Only then did I meet a group heading for the top.
In contrast, Mt Marcy - the highest mountain in NY - has a more gradual climbing trail and draws big crowds on a sunny day. Today was no exception. Once I got over to the Marcy trail it was like merging onto a superhighway. There was such a variety of people marching to the top. Some poorly equipped but all wanting to climb the highest peak. Families (their children toting teddy bears), college kids in running shoes, a kindly grandmother (who left clothes pins at the trail junctions to tell her "slower husband" which way she went(?)), young couples having heated discussions (because one was hell bent on summiting and the other "just wanted to go home!"). Dozens of people on the summit - it was a real zoo!! It certainly made for a contrast to my solo walk on Haystack just a short distance away.
That said it was a perfect day out and one I won't soon forget. We all made it back to a Mexican feast at the lodge and were in our bunks asleep by 9:30. A great weekend overall.
Haystack has to be the one of the best hikes I've done in a long time. It is centrally located amongst a large group of the high peaks and the last 3/4 of a mile are above treeline with nice rock scrambles to the summit. I arrived on the summit completely alone. I had my lunch, took photos, dried my socks out and then finally packed up and headed down. Only then did I meet a group heading for the top.
In contrast, Mt Marcy - the highest mountain in NY - has a more gradual climbing trail and draws big crowds on a sunny day. Today was no exception. Once I got over to the Marcy trail it was like merging onto a superhighway. There was such a variety of people marching to the top. Some poorly equipped but all wanting to climb the highest peak. Families (their children toting teddy bears), college kids in running shoes, a kindly grandmother (who left clothes pins at the trail junctions to tell her "slower husband" which way she went(?)), young couples having heated discussions (because one was hell bent on summiting and the other "just wanted to go home!"). Dozens of people on the summit - it was a real zoo!! It certainly made for a contrast to my solo walk on Haystack just a short distance away.
That said it was a perfect day out and one I won't soon forget. We all made it back to a Mexican feast at the lodge and were in our bunks asleep by 9:30. A great weekend overall.
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Johns Brook Lodge
Spent the weekend at John's Brook Lodge in the heart of the Adirondacks. Truly an amazing place run by the ADK hiking club. Bunks and 3 meals a day are provided for a minimal fee which allows you to be situated in the heart of some amazing hiking trails. Mike, Mark and I went in on Friday and came out on Monday after two stunning days of climbing peaks. The weather - unlike my previous two trips to the 'Daks was gorgeous. Almost no clouds, warm - but not hot -, and a nice breeze as you worked your way out onto the summits.
The lodge crew cooks a big breakfast and provides a bag lunch for the trail. Dinner is on the table at 6:30 motivating hikers to come down off the peaks before nightfall. On the nights we were there, there were a few latecomers struggling back from over ambitious hiking agendas but no one went hungry as food was saved for all. All you need to bring in - other than day hiking gear - is a sleeping bag and clothes to last your stay. The food was great and in more then ample supply.
Perhaps the only drawback - and I'm stretching here - is that the only facilities to wash off in after a long sweaty outing is Johns Brook itself. The water temperature was probably in the mid 40's F which made for a bracing (invigorating?) bath! The cold water was beautiful to sink your feet into after a long day of hiking. In a few moments your feet went numb from the cold which is an incredibly good thing!
The lodge was also a great place to meet up with the fellow hikers staying the night and gather "intel" on our proposed routes as well as sharing any advice we had to offer. We even got to meet the ADK chairman of the JBL lodge committee who was up for a couple of days. He had endless stories of the lodge, the trails and his days in the woods. He even gave a slide show showing the lodges early days and how they outfit the lodge every spring with a helicopter fly in of supplies.
The lodge crew cooks a big breakfast and provides a bag lunch for the trail. Dinner is on the table at 6:30 motivating hikers to come down off the peaks before nightfall. On the nights we were there, there were a few latecomers struggling back from over ambitious hiking agendas but no one went hungry as food was saved for all. All you need to bring in - other than day hiking gear - is a sleeping bag and clothes to last your stay. The food was great and in more then ample supply.
Perhaps the only drawback - and I'm stretching here - is that the only facilities to wash off in after a long sweaty outing is Johns Brook itself. The water temperature was probably in the mid 40's F which made for a bracing (invigorating?) bath! The cold water was beautiful to sink your feet into after a long day of hiking. In a few moments your feet went numb from the cold which is an incredibly good thing!
The lodge was also a great place to meet up with the fellow hikers staying the night and gather "intel" on our proposed routes as well as sharing any advice we had to offer. We even got to meet the ADK chairman of the JBL lodge committee who was up for a couple of days. He had endless stories of the lodge, the trails and his days in the woods. He even gave a slide show showing the lodges early days and how they outfit the lodge every spring with a helicopter fly in of supplies.
High Peaks
Hiking from the Lodge our first agenda was Basin and Saddleback. These two 4000+ footers offered an excellent hike. In spite of the trail length being only (only?!?) 9 miles it took us all day as the trails were massive steep up and crazy steep down. No real flat sections to speak of so going was naturally slow. In many instances a false step could be your last so caution marked our progress. That said the summit views were stellar. Here is a look from Basin looking west towards Mt. Marcy(center) with some other high peaks surrounding her. The heart of the park offers an amazing wilderness experience. Views for miles in all directions and very little in the way of civilization to be seen.
Basin's ledge
After the summit of Basin we proceeded onto the infamous rockfaces of Saddleback. This photo is taken on a ledge just below the summit of Basin. Mark is looking down into the "abyss" as they walk along this cool little ledge. Remember what I said about false steps.... The ledge is only 30 feet long and marks the only horizontal part of the hike between these two peaks. All the rest was a steep rocky scramble down followed by the equally steep climb back up.
The "trail" actually climbs the rock face seen in the center of this shot. For the most part the rock climb looks much worse then it is. There are a few tricky moves up onto ledges that require some scrambling but on the most part the ledges are far from vertical. They are however totally exposed which makes them feel pretty scary. That said a slip and fall could send one slipping/sliding/rolling to a nasty injury and rescue out here is hard to come by. All in all it was a lot of fun and the anticipation builds as one sees the rock faces getting closer on the approach hike. Of course there was much discussion regarding this section of the hike over dinner - those that had done it vs those that were going to do it the next day.
The "trail" actually climbs the rock face seen in the center of this shot. For the most part the rock climb looks much worse then it is. There are a few tricky moves up onto ledges that require some scrambling but on the most part the ledges are far from vertical. They are however totally exposed which makes them feel pretty scary. That said a slip and fall could send one slipping/sliding/rolling to a nasty injury and rescue out here is hard to come by. All in all it was a lot of fun and the anticipation builds as one sees the rock faces getting closer on the approach hike. Of course there was much discussion regarding this section of the hike over dinner - those that had done it vs those that were going to do it the next day.
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